Red light cameras are near and dear to my heart for a slew of reasons, up to and including 1) they violate the notion of equal protection, 2) they circumvent due process, 3) they don’t work, 4) cities use them as a cash cow while waving the false public safety flag, and 5) cities cheat in using them. Want more? Click me.
Meanwhile, over in Lubbock, a committee took an honest look at that city’s red light camera program, and they didn’t massage the numbers. Turns out, as predicted, red light cameras there just don’t work. Lubbock is taking the ballsy position of recommending a termination of the program.
City Councilmember Angela Hunt is demanding a committee look at the ridiculous proliferation of red light cameras in Dallas. Here’s wondering if Dallas will ranch up like Lubbock. (Disclaimer: Because of my own research on the subject, I was asked if I would be interested, but declined for professional reasons. Plus, I live in the ‘burbs and wouldn’t serve on any committee that would have me as a member.) Hat tip to Scott.
Update: Per a question in the comments, increasing the duration of yellow lights has shown to reduce red light running dramatically. Of course, it doesn’t generate revenue.
14 comments
If not red light cameras, what do you suggest as a way to stop people (no pun intended)from running red lights? I have often safely stopped at a light, only to have some fool go around me. I see 3-4 redlight runners each way on my commute. Something has to be done. We cannot afford a cop on every corner, nor would we want that.
A cop on every corner! I like that idea. In addition to the red light runners that have been the cause for so many of us to pull up stakes and move to the distant suburbs, it might also deter lesser criminals like car thieves, burglars, rapists, and murderers.
As if the distant suburbs do not have car thieves, burglars, rapists and murderers! Seems that they are just as susceptible to crime as any where else.
Seems like much ado about nothing. I was caught by one of the cameras…guess what it filmed me actually running a red light. I paid my fine and am more mindful of my driving habits. Tough to be too mad about something catching you doing something you shouldn’t…unless you have some other agenda, i.e. refrencing a story about a local company under investigation that was wholly dismissed as lacking foundation. Hmmm
Lee, pull your head out of whatever hole it’s in and you’ll see much more clearly. According to the 2007 FBI Uniform Crime Reports, here is how Dallas compares to some nearby suburbs:
Chance of being victim of violent crime:
Dallas– 1 in 191.
Richardson– 1 in 693.
Plano– 1 in 745.
(Odds of being a victim of violent crime were four times greater in Dallas than in Plano.)
Chance of being victim of murder:
Dallas– 1 in 11,245.
Richardson– 1 in 51,000.
Plano– 1 in 257,183.
(Odds of being a victim of murder were twenty three times greater in Dallas than in Plano.)
Chance of being victim of robbery:
Dallas– 1 in 369.
Richardson– 1 in 1,478.
Plano– 1 in 3,475.
(Odds of being a victim of robbery were nine times greater in Dallas than in Plano.)
Chance of being victim of auto theft:
Dallas– 1 in 180.
Richardson– 1 in 809.
Plano– 1 in 1,153.
(Odds of being a victim of auto theft were over six times greater in Dallas than in Plano.)
It doesn’t look like Richardson or Plano are “just as susceptible to crime” as Dallas.
Still, it does happen and makes the papers and the news.
We all know that the liklihood of being a victim of crime depends on where you live. If you can breakdown the figures further, would you find that the percentages are high for lower income areas? That is an unfortunate situation. I bet that the crime figures are no greater in Preston Hollow, the Park Cities, Lakewood, Lake Highlands than in Richardson or Plano.
Odds of growing up sheltered from and ignorant about life’s actual problems are infinitely higher in Plano than Dallas
Odds of growing up without the benefits of diversity are significantly higher in Plano than Dallas
Odds of growing up to be scared for your life if you leave the homogenous womb of the master-planned community are exponentially higher in Plano than Dallas
Stay in Plano, dude, really. Don’t ever come to Dallas. And go ahead and teach your children to never leave Plano, where it’s safe and nothing bad ever happens.
this is 2008, right? people don’t actually believe that if you go to the city you’re gonna get mugged, raped and/or killed, do they?
you referencing of the FBI numbers proves only one thing to me: you’re a scaredy cat
grow a pair and get out and live life for chrissakes
as for red-light cameras: i’m all for them.
i was nailed during the first week one was installed at Jefferson and Tyler in the OC and the photo cleary showed me blowing the red.
paid the fine and moved on, which is what i was taught growing up in the city (not this one, another some 1500 miles northeast of here)
anyway, break the law, get caught and pay your fine as per the law. where’s the conflict?
can/are the cameras possibly flawed? sure they are but so are humans, unless you are lucky enough to grow up in Plano
then you’re perfect, as living in the safe, sterile, sanctimonious suburbs has perfected you just as Ann Coulter would like
It is my understanding that a driver is not running a red light unless they enter the intersection after the light has turned red; if the light is yellow when they enter the intersection then it is not a violation. Assumign that that’s correct, if the city wants to keep this cash cow program running then in all fairness it should add display timers to the traffic lights (like those at some crosswalks) so drivers will know how much time they have till the light turns red.
Highway 6, when I took driving classes in high school a long time ago, I was taught that the yellow light is a warning. I would rather stop than have some jerk have reason to gun it through a light he may not make, camera or not.
I have a pair, jrp. But if you think constant exposure to crime equals knowledge “about life’s actual problems,” you need to grow a brain. If you think that the particular configuration of diversity that one finds in Dallas is somehow privileged over the diversity one finds in Plano, you need to broaden your mind.
If you think the benefits of living in Dallas outweigh the risks, more power to you. But if you can’t acknowledge that there are risks, you’re blind. If, as it appears you’re doing, you want to say that those risks are actually positive benefits, you’re a moron.
Never mind the bollocks. Where did you learn to write headlines, Trey?
i’ve live in Oak Cliff for just more than two years and have never been exposed to a crime, not one, not even close
random acts of violence only take place in the movies…
seriosuly take a second and think of all the people that you’ve know of that have been raped, robbed, killed, or otherwise the victim of serious crime…personally…not something that happened to a friend’s sister-in-law’s cousin’s brother
how many is it? 1-2 maybe. so explain what precautions one should take to mitigate this risk
and how can you argue that Plano is diverse when the majority of inhabitants are of the same race and the same social and economic class (as of the 2000 Census Plano was 78.3% white with a median family income of $91,162)
not really crossing all spectrums of the population there are we? sounds a lot like Stepford to this yankee
keep analyzing the risk of things that are probably never going to happen to you or anyone you know for that matter and keep commuting 45 minutes each way in your Tahoe and i’ll keep my honda civic and my 10-minute commute and my ever-growing and deepening understanding of cultures not my own, currently all things Tejano
seems to me that you’re scared of the boogeyman, plain and simple
This problem could be solved by lunch:
Step 1: Make the yellow lights 1/2 second longer
Step 2: Hold both sides of the intersection on red for one full second.
Step 3: Take rest of the day off.
Unfortunately, this wouldn’t generate money for city coffers.